This application is based on and claims the priority under 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7119 of German Patent Application 100 17 500.7, filed on Apr. 7, 2000, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The invention relates to a fire fighting system for a passenger aircraft, in particular, to large bodied passenger aircraft having at least one below deck space.
Conventionally, passenger aircraft are equipped with a fire fighting pipe line system installed in the aircraft body for protecting below deck installations. The system includes storage containers holding a fire extinguishing substance or medium and so-called smoke alarm hoods mechanically connected by pipes and valves of the system to the storage containers. Each smoke alarm hood includes at least one smoke detector and at least one fire fighting substance discharging nozzle. Such smoke alarm hoods are referred to herein as fire fighting unit or units. These fire fighting units are electrically connected to a control center, e.g. in the cockpit. The system further includes outlet control valves between the storage containers and the pipe line or lines. The outlet valves are also electrically connected to the control center. Thus, the outlet valves are controllable in open loop fashion or closed loop fashion from the cockpit in response to smoke alarm signals from the smoke detectors. These fire fighting units are conventionally installed in a below deck freight loading or baggage loading space of an aircraft, such as fore and/or aft freight loading spaces.
German Patent Publication DE 36 15 415 corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,038,867 (Hindrichs et al.) discloses and fire fighting system including two storage containers for fire extinguishing media or substances. Such substances are liquid under excess pressure and are used in a first and in a second fire fighting mission in freight loading spaces of public transportation, particularly airliners. In these conventional systems the fire extinguishing substance becomes gaseous under atmospheric conditions and is transported from both fire extinguishing medium storage containers through a common pipe line to discharge nozzles positioned in the freight loading space or spaces in the aircraft. The conventional fire fighting system is controllable from the cockpit and has, for example, a total of four discharge nozzles. Two of these nozzles are positioned in the fore freight loading space and one nozzle each is positioned in the aft freight loading space and in the baggage loading space.
Currently, so-called LD-MCR containers (lower deck mobile crew rest container) are used in a few aircraft. Such containers are installed in areas below deck and provide a possibility for passengers and crew to have some rest during flight. It is customary to equip these temporarily used containers with individual fire extinguishers. Even similar spaces or cabins forming a fixed part of a below deck space, rather than a container, are conventionally equipped with individual fire extinguishers. Such spaces or cabins include, for example BCR compartments (bulk crew rest compartments) and other LDF rooms (lower deck facilities). The separate or individual fire extinguishers have the disadvantage of an extra effort and expense for extinguishing medium containing bottles, piping and mountings, leading to undesirable additions to the weight of the aircraft including added costs, added electrical system connections and added maintenance efforts.
In view of the foregoing, it is the aim of the invention to achieve the following objects singly or in combination:
to avoid individual fire fighting equipment for below deck passenger and crew facilities;
to expand available below deck freight space fire fighting equipment for use in below deck passenger and crew facilities, with little extra effort and expense;
to avoid the use of manually operable fire extinguishers in the below deck facilities of an aircraft; and
to optimally reduce the need for fire sealing different below deck areas from each other.
The above objects have been achieved according to the invention by one or more extensions branching off from the below deck fire fighting equipment and leading through branch pipe lines and branching elements to one or more extinguishing medium discharging nozzles in respective fire fighting units arranged in below deck passenger and/or crew compartments, which are either below deck, built-in fixed passenger resting compartments or which are containers equipped for insertion in below deck aircraft spaces for providing passenger resting facilities. The fire fighting units are then installed in the respective container or fixed, built-in facilities. In both instances the fire fighting units are directly connectable or coupled to the below deck fire fighting equipment of the aircraft.
An advantage achieved by the invention is seen in that following the activation of the fire fighting system of the freight loading spaces, the extinguishing medium flows through the branch pipe line or lines and branching elements to the discharge nozzle or nozzles in the below deck passenger area or areas affected by a fire. It is also an advantage if fire extinguishing operations are performed simultaneously in a below deck freight loading space and in a below deck passenger compartment or cabin as a matter of precaution independently of the actual location of a fire source. Further advantages are seen in that manual fire fighting individually in any below deck passenger and/or crew space is avoided, and that fire sealing requirements between below deck passenger spaces and below deck freight loading spaces are minimized because the bulkheading provided below deck contributes substantially to the required fire insulation or sealing between freight spaces and passenger spaces. Moreover, interface components between below deck passenger facilities must be properly sealed in accordance with regulations and therefore respective sealing is provided anyway. Thus, the invention can take advantage of the sealing already provided, for example, at access openings, air conditioning inlets and outlets outside the bulkheading that seals the freight loading spaces.